The Era of You — My Taylor Swift Reveries
By Catie Jarvis
It’s the start of July, and the Amsterdam Metro is packed full of people in such varied costumes that you’d think it was Halloween. Pink sequined skirts, leotards, cowboy hats and boots, red hooded capes, puffy purple shawls, t-shirts saying, “WE ARE NEVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER”, and even an Olaf costume from Frozen. They have come from all over the Netherlands, from Boston, New York, and, like me and my husband, Los Angeles. Together, like a tribe, we pass the Canals at Central Station and head to the Johan Cruyff Arena. We exchange beaded friendship bracelets and stories like we are all old friends, shimmering with the excitement of the evening ahead.
What would it take for the whole world to be as united as this train full of fans headed to the Eras Tour? What a wonderful world that would be!
Was it worth it to fly all night to Amsterdam to see The Tortured Poets Department leg of the magnanimous “Eras Tour”? Yes! Undoubtedly. I have been to a lot of great concerts – but I have never seen anything like this…
I stand floor left as Taylor Swift is unearthed from a pink feather-kite-cocoon. The crowd roars, a feral and outlandish sound, as Taylor sings the opening words to “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.” She seems to sing directly to me – to everyone: “You know I adore you, I’m crazier for you than I was at 16…” As she struts down the stage, she flaunts her girlish youth with the worldly wisdom of an accomplished, bad-ass, thirty-five-year-old woman, and each member of the audience is so terribly enchanted to meet her that we all (and I mean ALL), weep streaming tears for approximately the first three songs. Are we tapping into some liberating zeitgeist that frees us to risk the vulnerability of public tears? Whatever it is, it’s a beautiful freedom that I wish occurred more often.
THE FICTION PORTAL
In her overly generous three-hour and twenty-minute performance, Taylor Swift gives about 150% effort. She knows that this is what her fans, who have paid exorbitant resale prices and traveled across continents (to Europe where there are reasonable resale price caps) to see her, deserve.
She has masterfully composed every step, hand gesture, and flirtatious glance of the Eras Tour. A critic might say this brings a level of artifice to the performance, but I feel it’s a tenant of her perfectionism and care.
Despite the refined choreography, Swift imbues the night with an authenticity that steams out of her and coats the entire stadium – floor to ceiling. This is the 120th concert she has performed in her 1.5-year tour, and still, she makes us believe every second of it. After her piano performance of “Champagne Problems,” she looks out at the audience clapping, cheering, and screaming for minutes on end. She is present with a genuine love for her fans in her eyes, as she takes it all in.
Swift has trained like an athlete for this tour and the full commitment is inspiring. After the dramatically and phenomenally performed songs from (my favorite) The Tortured Poets Department, Swift scampers down the stage, and somehow not completely breathless, announces that she will begin her acoustic set on guitar and piano, where she performs unique songs in each concert. Her songs are not easy to sing, they are wordy with a full vocal range, but after two hours of performing, she gives a fabulously intimate and truly unforgettable singer-songwriter show!
When performers in any genre give this much it reminds me… that all of us giving life our best shot deserve to be cheered on! Taylor Swift knows this and is transferring this important concept to us. She looks out at the audience, lit up with glowing concert bracelets, and tells us that she can see each and every one of us and that we all look amazing and beautiful. We believe it —isn’t that what true inspiration is?
Embodying the many “Eras” of her albums, Swift shows chameleon versatility. While the most authentic certainly seems to be country cowgirl, as she sways to “Fearless,” she easily transforms into a no less masterful pop and folk artist. Like the Beatles (but modern and feminized) she creates universally catchy choruses with simple chords and ideas. Stories spin, à la Billy Joel, and bring to life entire worlds, like “Betty” or the epic ten-minute version of “All Too Well.” In Joni Mitchell style, she weaves creative, full, lyrically dense, and terribly confessional melodies that reach right into the soul: “Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind (oh)…” or “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace… .”
With lyrics to embody every kind of love, lust, and romantic heartbreak imaginable, Swift’s songs devolve into epic transitions that seven-year-old girls and forty-five-year-old-men alike chant the words to with all of their passion. She is undoubtedly the Queen of the Bridge – not only the musical bridges in her songs but a bridge between people. She shows us her humaneness so that we don’t feel as alone in ours.
Swift’s performance is cleverly Metta in her choice to perform several songs where the audience and the public are implicit. She stomps on cities in “Anti-hero”, mocks the deep obsession with her love life in “Daddy I Love You”, and shows all the truth behind the superstar in “I Can Do it With a Broke Heart.” These songs poke a hole in the façades of life – even as they expose us, her, and humanity to the reality that Taylor not so humbly reminds us of in the second to last song of the show – namely, that she is a mastermind.
Well beyond the performance itself, Swift goes out of her way to show that she cares about her fans: She ensures that all fans with floor seats have access to water for the entire concert, with a train of “Free Water Servers” walking around the entire show. Her brilliant background singers and dancers are varied in their ethnicities, sizes, and sexual orientations putting out the clear message that in her world all are accepted, welcomed, and beautiful.
Swift scans the audience throughout the show to make sure that no one needs help or is in distress. During the first of the two shows that I saw, she called out to security four different times in the middle of a song, pointing out where someone was struggling and needed assistance. Proving that her fans are more important, even, than her perfectly constructed performance. She treats her fans with respect and love, and her fans, in turn, treat each other this way.
With great power comes great responsibility. Taylor Swift is on top of the world, and she does not take it for granted. Each European city that Swift enters celebrates and welcomes her, as she donates one million dollars to their food banks and does more for world hunger than a lot of governments.
What We Can Learn from Taylor Swift? What would the world be like if every politician, businessman, and celebrity paid the same attention to their constituency, clients, customers, and fans as Swift did on the Eras tour? What if we all looked out for our neighbors to ensure they had the resources they needed, and scanned the proverbial crowd for those who may be in distress or in need of help? What if we accepted each other? Made each other gifts that we handed out freely? Laughed together, cried together, and sang together across country lines and all our differences?
In a world where those with power so often tear us apart and take advantage, thank you, Taylor Swift, for exhibiting such care toward those who undoubtedly care about you. I am grateful that I was able to shimmer with you for two nights in Amsterdam, amidst a crowd of people filled with love, creativity, and big dreams.
I’m grateful that I get to share these adventures with ZO’s community, as well as my wishes for a new era of respect and love for all of us!
P.S. Taylor, No one is going to try and come for your job!
END
Catie Jarvis is an author of fiction, as well as a yoga instructor, a competitive gymnastics coach, an English and writing professor, a surfer, and a mom. She received her B.A. in writing from Ithaca College, and her M.F.A. in creative writing from the California College of the Arts.
